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Indeed, apart from CFB Gagetown, the provincial government, NB Power, the university sector, the local health authority and school district, the largest job generators are in fields such as professional, scientific and technical services; arts, entertainment and recreation; educational services; and administration and support, waste management and remediation services.
All of which has bred other compelling advantages: more businesses per capita (approximately one for every 14 people) than almost any other location in the Atlantic provinces; retail sales of nearly $1.4-billion in 2009, or roughly 23 per cent greater than the national average; a record-breaking $157.1-million in new construction in 2008; and the lowest property taxes among all New Brunswick cities.
It would be boastful, even rude, to claim Fredericton is, indeed, marvellously equipped to meet the knowledge-economy challenges of the information age. It would also be right.
Miramichi: Where hope survives
The relief in Miramichi Mayor Gerry Cormier’s voice was palpable last February. Umoe Solar NV, a Norwegian company with deep pockets and great expectations, had just announced plans to build a $600-million solar cell factory on the site of a shuttered paper mill. It also expected to hire 350 people from the local labour force. “This is good news in these tough economic times,” Cormier said.
“No kidding” was the general reaction in a city that has been hit hard over the past couple of years – not just by the global economic recession, but by the erosion of its traditional, resource-oriented industrial base. Like many communities in central-north New Brunswick, far from the comparatively robust south, this municipality of 37,000 – where the unemployment rate varies from a low of 11 per cent to a high of 25 per cent, depending on the season – relied on the forestry, mineral extraction and fishing as steady revenue and job generators.
But when the Canadian dollar began to rise, and commodity prices began to fall, major employers closed operations and laid off workers, leaving places like Miramichi with a bad case of naval gazing. Indeed, when Cormier took office in 2008, he was quick to acknowledge, “People are looking for some new ideas. They want something a little different, something new.”
Umoe, which bought the former UPM-Kymmene mill shut since 2007, certainly seems to fit the bill. In September, the firm signalled its long-term interest in New Brunswick by applying for $2.9-million in funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, in part to keep two post-doctoral, seven PhD and five master’s of science researchers busy over the life of the project. It also asked Business New Brunswick for financial aid.
Over the past year, government funding totalling $33-million has provided incentives for private investments amounting to $70-million. According to Enterprise Miramichi (one of 15 Community Economic Development Agencies in New Brunswick), these funds, “assisted to create, expand, upgrade and diversify many businesses.”
The strategy now is to encourage further development of the value-added manufacturing sector (where Umoe firmly belongs), knowledge and tourism industries, aerospace, health care and bio-energy all while attempting to bolster the forestry and fishery. Currently, according to Statistics Canada, the municipality’s top three industrial employers are health care and social assistance, retail trade, and manufacturing.
To be sure, it’s a very tall order. But the one resource Miramichi never seems to run out of is hope.
